Joel's life is a game
by KING UNDER DOG
Summary: Imagine losing everything you ever cared about an having been plunged into a seemingly endless struggle survive for almost 20 years, now tell me,if this we're you ,would you accept power that could change it all or would you just wallow in darkness. Join Joel as he does WHATEVER it takes to get back what he lost. No matter the expense...
1. Chapter 1

**Player has slept for the required 8 has been fully restored an all status effective current time is-**

he didn't even bother read the text as he deleted it away with a flick of the hand. Sitting up he stretched popping a few slightly stiff muscle that he knew he wouldn't even feel the aches of by the time he got up.

Seems the game still felt the need to remind him how much he's actually aged, whatever, it's not like he'd really become too reckless to constantly need a reminder in the morning.

Getting up off his tattered sofa Joel walked over to the nearest window ,with passive aged eyes he saw the once great city of Boston look the same it had for the last 10 years he had taken residence here.

A sad, broken down shit pile that seemed like it was now just one big permanently depressed slum that barely functioned even under the soilders martial law bringing in what order it could to the place.

It wasn't much but it was livable.. As much as people complain Joel know from years of smuggler experience that there seemed to be a never ending line of people who all wished they could live here on the inside. Poor bastards.

"welp" the smuggler said scratching his cheek as he climbed over an stood at the edge of the 2 story window, "let's get this over with ",an with that he leaped off the ledge of the building an branced himself as he landed square on his feet an the concert road below.

As always.. It stung. Most people would atlest have a broken ankle or some form of injury from doing something so dangerous. An in a way he did.

A floating green bar appeared over his head, it had his name an occupation as a smuggler written in bold letters on top of it, it you paid attention you would notice a small chunk of the green bar was missing.

He got hurt definitely, all things on this God forsaken earth did. It's just that he for the past 2 years had a different way of showing it.

Standing up straight he walked down the street an ignored all the looks of fear he gathered from the fee people out on the streets of his district, even the patrolling soliders we're clenching their guns ever so slightly as he walked by.

It didn't bother him at this point, he was use to it. Plus it's not like he could fault a few people people for giving into some of the many rumors about him, if was only natural to fear what you didn't understand after all.

After several turns,a passport check an a few blocks Joel finally reached his destination. The harbour.

It was well known that this section of the city was run by a old acquaintance of his, Robert Groves, he had for a while now been considered a grade A snitch for the soldiers selling out other smugglers supplies in return for more ration cards than one man should ever have an the Leaniency from the soilders to do just about anything he wanted out side of their superiors eye.

Above all else he was dangerous, not himself of course, Robert was a more of a careful man than a physical one who got his own hands dirty, he would rather shield himself with dozens of able bodied thugs that would do anything for a ration card an use their depression to convert them into his "inforcers" for a while now, sure call him a coward if you want but the fact was the guy was probably one of the few to stand a chance of eventually dying of old age.

Going up against his men was suicidal, he had dozens of armed lunatices at his disposal, some with even army experience or dooped up on drugs that made them go crazy in a hand to hand fight.

Truly it would take either the soilders or a harbinger of death to get to Robert at this point at the heart of the harbour.

He didn't even give the poor bastards a warning before he started hurling flaming Molotov bottles an explosive nails cans into the fort under huge clouds of sugar based white smoke.

"sorry ya'll, nothing personal " he said in a whisper listening for panicked foots step in the thick smoke as screams of pain an terror rang out thought the loading dock as the fires spread burning both wood an people while others where ripped to shreds by nails that seemed while in the smoke to be coming from all directions, what were remaining were easily picked off by very well placed head shots.

All the while Joel watched passively with handgun in hand making clean shoots at anything his sense of hearing pitched up aside from all the screaming.

Out in the far distance outside of the smoke screen Joel saw his target run out of his now blazing building as he ran for cover near the creates ,or at least would have if a bullet did just rip through his right leg making him fall with a pained yelp clutching his bleeding leg.

Looking on with pure fear in his eyes Joel's target shook at the sight of him standing above him with his hand gun pointed down at him, the screams an roaring fires all around them made Joel look less human to the bleeding man, instead right at that moment Robert could of sworn he was staring up at the devil himself!

"w-wait, hold up!. you dont need to be doing this, w-we can work something out" the man stammered trying to find a way to weasel himself out of it, it was what he was good at after all.

Joel just stood still with his unblinking emotionless gaze set on the man, no doubt wonder which eye socket would be the best to put a bullet in.

"what are you getting paid in?,weapons?, ration cards?, i-if so I've got more than ready, just name your price an we can just move along from this whole thing!" Joel didn't even blink an just took the time Robert was talking to put a few extra bullets in his gun.

"s-eriously, i-i could make you a very happy man, just think about it!, all the food you could ever want, some of the best woman we have to offer! Anything! " the man was desperate now as Joel had finally fully loaded his gun an aimed in the center of his forehead.

"sorry, nothing personal... I just need the experience points "

Robert didn't even have time to process what he just heard before his head tilted back as a bullet flew through it killing him instantly.

As Joel stood there in the middle of what could only be called a scene from hell itself with bodies an fires everywhere he could only pay attention to one thing.

 **Congratulations player mission completed!**

 **Gained 6000xp!**

 **Bonus!**

 **500xp for flawless execution.**

 **Bonus**

 **50xp for every head shot!**

 **350xp**

 **Your reputation has risen!**

 **You have leveled up!**

 **Current level is now 26!**

 **Special ability has been unlocked!**

 **Player is now immune to all forms of infection!**

He ignored everything else a focused all of his mind on that one line,He uttered one word that held the most emotion he had shown all day.

"finally ..."


	2. Chapter 2

one good thing about these nonsense abilities of his that Joel was always greatful for was the complete lack of dreams when he was it the day after his one-man assault against Robert an his mini-Army of paid goons, he had choosen to stay low for a while until the heat died down, funny thing about his power was that even if he was sneaking about any major actions or fights he's been in the they always ended up leaking into the city as rumors that got twisted into far worse atrocities than they really were.

If he killed a guy with a knife rumors say he did it bare hand, if he survived a leg breaking fall at 30 feet rumors say it should of killed him cause it was 60.

It took him a while to realize it was the reputation counter that he had always ignored thinking it played not effect in his life, boy was he wrong, in a way it was more of a double edged sword; people tended to not go out of they're way to bother or hustle him fearing that they would end up dead in under 5 punches, he always rolled his eyes at that, some people with a let's just say 'heavier ' wallets would contact him via Currier message's by paid off soilder's for what his powers call "special missions".

Usually it would involve just clearing out some nearby infected locations so the politicians can expand more control of outside the Zone, he didn't really give two shits about why the big wigs seemed to always want mercenarys or Smugglers like him doing odd in the old days when he still work under Tess he asked about it an all she an the rest just figured the soldiers were just passing off the shittiest suicide job's to them hoping it would just pick them off so they wouldn't have to deal with them themselves.

Despite knowing this in the back on our minds alot of us still take the job's, it paid way more than the average task does,lord only knows some people wagged their tails whenever someone flashed a couple ration cards around.

He didn't do it for the food though, he had hundreds of them just laying around not even used, they just seemed to always show up in his bag after a long day of doing missions,hell sometimes he'd just find them in random places.

He had enough food a last him a long while stored away in his bag, funny thing about that any time he gets a bag he was able to fit damn near anything that could fit through the zipper into it.

All the food he currently had in one section was still as fresh as the moment he placed it there, every now an then out on a whim he would give a few ration cards to any orphan's he just so happens to meet, never too much though, the first time he did that the poor kid he gave 50 cards to was found beaten to death in the gutters stripped of everything he had.

He never did like the idea of children dying so young,it brought up.. Bad memories.

Thankfully less than an hour later he received a revenge mission with a floating map icon targeting the boys less to say they didn't live long enough to cash in the cards.

Sitting up off his raggedy couch Joel did what he always did every two days or so, check his stated the bag could hold many things like food or cards but Joel was by far more interested in what that meant for the unbelievable boom that made to his choice of weapons he could carry around the zone.

Before he had to have his basic gear hidden away in a secret stash as to not be found in any surprise inspections but with this ability he could easily stuff an entire arsenal of weapons into his back with it still appearing next to empty from the outside. Any smuggler on the planet would kill for one!. Just think of all the things one could bring in an out of zones!.

Which is exactly why he always did his best to keep it secret,the first time someone found out about it they tried to steal it from him while he was distracted.

How did they distract him you may ask?, simple, they got close to him a became someone he thought he could trust, then when his guard was down... They tricked him into thinking that they lo...it didn't matter. He knew better now a for the most part cut ties.

Jeol stretched his arms enjoying the clicking of his aged bones Joel dissided he was gonna try acting like a sane human being today an us the door instead of jumping out off the two story window to get out this time.

As he opened the door his face morphed into a frown.

"what do you want? " he tried to keep his tone even but a bit of spit still echoed in his deep voice. Standing at the door was long dark haired woman in old red top an very faded Blue Jeans, she like was thin which was a very common thing due to for shortages but seem more likely due to year of constant running or climbing burning down all her body fat leaving her in a relatively in healthy shape if not only couple pounds under weight.

"hey joel.."

Her slightly bruised face looked up at him square in the eyes as he opened the door before she could knock only to look away slightly. She looked a little roughed up but she would walk it off,not that it mattered to him,at this point Joel was more concerned with what business she had with him, that was their agreement when they parted ways, only ever come near him if she had a job for him that her boys couldn't handle,aside from that (an he told her this to her face)he never wanted to see her fucking face.

"com'on now,i don't have day" he said not liking dragging this on as much as needs to."just tell me what i need to do so I can get this over an not have to bother with you for at least another month until you come back again with your tail between your legs",he was in no mood to be pleasant, These visits always irritated him.

She had gotten use this sort of treatment from him an she was in anyway a soft woman who wore her heart on her sleeve but even still she flinched slightly,not just because of the insult but because well.. It was true, handling the heavier risk smuggling jobs had only gotten harder since Joel left,the few extra hands she could get to assist were practically meat shields in terms of usefulness.

She was loosing more than she was gaining looking for replacements an finally after her own personal rations from bill started to slow down she caved. She against her pride an better judgement struck a deal with Joel a couple months back, after convincing him not to shoot her on site of course.

He would temporarily be under "loan" to her smuggling ring for job's they just couldn't handle on their own without serious casualties an in return any ammunition or oddly enough scrap they find or looted went straight to him the pay was split at 60/40,no one dared to to argue when he clearly took better share. Tess had to more than once remind her crew that if Joel wanted to he could of taken all of it an leave them for dead.

The rumors about him in the past 2 years definitely made them believe the possibility of the man being capable of doing that this shutting the grunts up.

As much as she wished they could have him back permanently as her right hand she knew that ship had long sailed,the first time she brought up the "good old days "(if you could call running from infected while sitting yourself that) he shot her down instantly without even giving it a second of thought.

"it's Marlene " she finally spoke, "she's got a big job for us, said the pay off would be ten times our regular amounts from the big wigs"

Crossing his arms at the doorway Joel raised a brow ,"Marlene?, what the hell does the leader of the fireflies want with us? "

Tess couldn't help the small smile she had when he said 'us' instead of just referring to himself, it was probably a slip of the tongue, something that just happened due to habit.

"I'm not entirely sure to be honest, but she promised some high caliber gear ,like actually semi-automatics Joel, the same kind the soldiers brag about " she explained of Joel's demands in their deal was the right to refuse job's if the pay off didn't reap high gains, lord only knows how big his stash must of been by now with his mindset to always go after the death sentence level jobs that only seemed to have huge payments.

In the past she would of thought it'd be impossible for one man to handle just half the things she's seem Joel pull off during a job gone completely south. But somehow even under hails of gun fire ,claws and teeth Joel always pulled through.

Her an her crew only being slightly malnourished but regularly feed was proof of how very well off they were even with joel always taking the lions share of the goods.

Hell a few of her own men even tried to switch sides an begged Joel to take them on to start his own smuggling business. Which he would always reject saying he didn't want to waste his time always pulling their asses out of fire.

"so what are we smuggling, drugs, medicine... It's not organs again is it? " he said leaning in try to intimidate her, the had taken a job getting some boxes into Boston from a shady contractor once, they were told it was just some medical supplies but one was left open revealing a couple human hearts put on ice in a cooler. Shit didn't end well an Tess lost some of her best guys in the shoot out that happened.

"No!, I mean I already asked, she said it wasn't anything like that just a drop off no strings attached just to the capital building,well be back in the zone in 2 days or less" Tess explained, hoping it was enough to convince him. It looked like it, she could definitely see the temptation raise in his stony cold eyes.

"the capital building huh?,been a while since I've done anything near there, but still you didn't answer my question, what are we doing here Tess,whats the merchandise?.to be paying what your say for a easy job like this it sounds rotten to me"

"look i.. fuck I don't know okay " she admitted.

"what do you mean you don't know, your the one bringing this to me an your telling me you don't even know what it is",Joel didn't like the idea of going in blind into a job out in a deserted area of the city, it sounded like a classic trap to him an he sure as shit didn't trust Marlene, if you ask him the fireflies sounded more like a cult then a resistance his brother got disillusioned from they're "look to the light " garbage over time.

He wasn't buying it.

Tess didn't have anything to counter with.

"now if that's all I think I'm gonna go take a stroll, the local rat burger has actual ketchup on it now I hear",he said closing the door passing Tess only to move out of reflex snatching a her hand when she tried to stop him.

Clenching her arm hard in his grip Joel Shoved her into the hallway wall an glared down at her resisting the urge to snap her arm.

"w-ait Joel I was just-"

"who the hell gave you permission to touch me! " he yelled at her tightening his grip.

Gritting her teeth in pain Tess knew she fucked up grabbing at Joel after he hidden hint to leave him alone, she knew 20 years in this hell had made him an alot of people paranoid her included, but over years of working together she had once been one of the few Joel could let his guard down around,seems that too was no more.

He let her go a moment later when the sound of a gun clicking echoed in the hall, they both turned to see the very woman they were talking about point a gun aimed at Joel's head.

"Now that I've got your attention I'd like to get down to answering some of your questions " the leader of the fireflies said shifting her head in a step away gesture to Joel who got the message an just leaned back on the opposite wall arms folded.

"queen firefly, heard you got a job for me"

Marlene just shook her head pointing down the gun an smirked, "my god"she said smirking, "I point a gun to your head an you don't even blink ,the rumors really are true" her smirk was replaced by a wench as she clutched her side that was bleeding from resent wounds.

"Marlene you said you would wait outside I've got this" Tess said walking over to the dark-skinned woman to help her up.

"as if,more like you were about to get your teeth knocked in" she huffed out despite the pain, "besides soldiers were patrolling outside, couldn't risk being seen" Marlene looked towards Joel who had remained quiet up till now,"I'm guessing you want to know more about the job an making things anymore vague ain't gonna cut it huh"

"no ma'am, either explain or I'm out" Joel finally said.

Marlene sighed"well..shit ,was planning on holding it off until we get to my safe house but looks like I got no choice if I want to get this done in time" taking a deep breath she straightened up,"so... How do feel about kids? "

 **A special mission has been unlocked!**


End file.
